Common WordPress Installation Problems

Having trouble installing WordPress? Don’t worry, many users have seen an error message when trying the installation process. Check out these common errors and solutions to fix your WordPress problems.

Error Message

Common Cause

Solution

Error Connecting to the Database

The database name, username, password, or host was entered
incorrectly.

Revisit your MySQL database to obtain the database name,
username, and password, and re-enter that information.

Headers Already Sent Error Messages

A syntax error occurred in wp-config.php the file.

Open the file in a text editor. The first line should contain
only this line: <?php. The last line
should contain only this line: ?>.
Make sure that those lines contain nothing else — not even
white space. Save the file changes.

500: Internal Server Error

Permissions on PHP files are set incorrectly.

Try setting the permissions (chmod)
on the PHP files to 666. If that doesn’t work, set them to
644. Each web server has different settings for how it lets PHP
execute on its servers.